Tuesday, October 20, 2026 - A Nigerian man, Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, a/k/a “Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo,” a/k/a “So Kwan Leung,” was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe to eight years in prison for his role in multiple fraud, hacking, and identity theft offenses.
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New
York, Jamie McDonald, made the announcement in a statement issued by the
Department of Justice on Monday, October 19, 2026.
Amachukwu was extradited from France to the United States in
2025 and previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and
conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
"Chukwuemeka Amachukwu believed he was operating safely
offshore when he targeted his victims, but he has now been held to account and
now faces a serious sentence for his crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie
McDonald.
“Amachukwu took part in sophisticated schemes to hack into
U.S. businesses, steal and use stolen identity information of victims, and
commit fraud. These crimes imposed significant harm on the victims and the
public, and so it is only appropriate that the crimes also come with a
significant sentence for the defendant.”
According to the Superseding Indictments, public court
filings, and statements made in court: Beginning in at least in or about 2019,
Amachukwu, his co-conspirator Kinglsey Uchelue Utulu, and other Nigeria-based
conspirators took part in a scheme to hack into U.S-based tax preparation
businesses.
The conspirators utilized spearphishing emails to obtain
access to these business’s electronic systems.
Once they had obtained access, the conspirators stole the
tax and other identifying information for at least approximately 800 of the
business’ customers.
The conspirators hacked into several U.S. based tax
businesses, located in New York, Texas, and other states.
The conspirators obtained the stolen identity information of
thousands of individuals. They used this information to file fraudulent tax
returns with the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities.
The conspirators sought fraudulent refunds of at least
approximately $8.4 million, of which they successfully obtained at least
approximately $2.5 million.
In addition to filing fraudulent tax returns, the
conspirators used the stolen identities to file fraudulent claims with the
Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
The conspirators were able to obtain at least an additional
approximately $819,000 in fraudulent payouts.
In addition, Amachukwu took part in a fraud scheme in which
he offered U.S. victims investments in purportedly valuable standby letters of
credit.
In the course of this scheme, AMACHUKWU impersonated a
wealthy overseas financier in order to fool his victims. In reality, these
investments did not exist, and AMACHUKWU and his co-conspirators were able to
pocket more than $7 million in fraudulent proceeds.
In addition to the prison term, AMACHUKWU, 40, of Nigeria,
was sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution
in an amount of $3,647,629.39 and forfeiture in the amount of $10,846,634.39.
Mr. McDonald thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation for
its outstanding work.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds
and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Nessim is in charge of
the prosecution.
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